Tow bar assembly for sulky

ABSTRACT

A tow bar assembly for a horse drawn sulky which includes an inverted U-shaped bar structure. The bar assembly is pivotally supported on a saddle encircling the body of the horse. A pivot stud secured to a pad under the saddle extends therethrough and registers with holes in the tow bar. A bushing may be inserted on the stud and facilitate pivotable movement of the tow bar with respect to the saddle.

United States Patent [1 1 Gaines et al.

[ June 24, 1975 [54] TOW BAR ASSEMBLY FOR SULKY 9l2,l48 2/1909 Montin 54/40 [75] Inventors: Clarence Gaines, Sherburne; I

Chester Depew, Farmingdale, both Primary ExaminerHugh R. Chamblee of NY. Assistant Examiner-J. Q. Lever [73] Assignee: Clarence Gaines, Sherburne, N.Y. AtmmehAgent or Flrm Edward Loveman [22] Filed: Oct. 9, 1973 [2]] App]. No.1 404,754 [57] ABSTRACT A tow bar assembly for a horse drawn sulky which in- 52] U S Cl 54/39 cludes an inverted U-shaped bar structure. The bar as- [5l] In. .0 c H sembly is pivotally supported on a Saddle encircling [58] Fie'ld 4O 4 42 the body of the horse. A pivot stud secured to a pad f 6 under the saddle extends therethrough and registers with holes in the tow bar. A bushing may be inserted on the stud and facilitate pivotable movement of the [56] uNlTE g gzzfr s gzrNTs tow bar with respect to the saddle.

30,650 ll/1860 Weeks 54/39 7 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures a c i I 52 38/ IO f M .5 I M .I e2. 2 S. 2 u

5a 0 5 H s;:\ l 406/ o 5,- D I I. 48 8 3 PATENTEDJUN24 I975 7 3.890.768 SHEET 2 TOW BAR ASSEMBLY FOR SULKY This invention concerns a tow bar for a horse drawn racing sulky, and more particularly involves a tow bar which is pivotally mounted on a saddle and having de pending opposed sides for clamping the shafts of the sulky.

It often happens in trotting races, that the horses at the finish line are less than a yard apart. In going around a track, horses closer to the inside rail travel less distance than those at the outer rail. Each driver therefore seeks to obtain an inside rail position to enable his horse to travel the shortest possible distance around the track. The inside rail limits the lateral position of the horse and sulky since the wheel closest to the inside rail must clear this rail during the race.

In the present invention a new way has been found for coupling the shafts of a sulky to the saddle on a horse. Moreover, the sulky and horse may be displaced laterally, so that the horse is positioned a few inches closer to the inside rail than would otherwise be possible. Under these conditions, the central longitudinal plane of symmetry of the horse is adjustably located laterally of the central longitudinal plane of symmetry of the sulky, instead of the usual direct central plane alignment employed in conventional horse drawn sulkies.

The usual trotting race track is one half mile in length and has semicircular ends. By locating a horse laterally closer to the inside rail a few inches, 3 inches for example, the horse runs about 9 inches less than usual in going around one semicircular end of the track. The travel is about l8 inches less in going once around the track, i.e.', in traversing both semicircular ends of the track. In a one mile race, where the horse runs twice around the track, the distance traveled is about 36 inches less. Such savings in distance traveled can often result in winning a close race.

According to the invention, the horse is connected to the sulkyvia an inverted U-shaped tow bar structure which has a horizontal bight extending transversely over the back of the horse, and two depending sides at opposite sides of the horse. The two shafts of the sulky are adjustably clamped to the depending sides of the U-shaped structure which is pivotally mounted on the saddle encircling the body of the horse.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a tow bar assembly for coupling a horse to the shafts of a sulky.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a tow bar assembly which is U-shapedand wherein the shafts are adjustably clamped to the depending sides of the U-shaped structure.

A still further object of the presentinvention is to provide an adjustable tow bar assembly for a sulky which can be adjustably positioned transversely and thus locate the horse closer to one sulky shaft than the other shaft.

Another object is to provide an adjustable sulky tow bar assembly as described, which has two alignable parts arranged for adjustable longitudinal extension and contraction.

Another object is to provide an adjustable sulky tow bar assembly with bolts or pins for holding the bar in longitudinally adjustableposition.

These and other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a side view of a horse and sulky shown coupled together by a tow' barassembly embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing the horse, sulky and tow bar assembly FIG. 3 is a rear end elevational view of the horse, sulky and tow bar assembly;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of parts of the tow bar assembly of FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 is a one piece tow bar;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of still another tow bar assembly;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the tow bar assembly of FIG; 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 88 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 99 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a trotting track used in explaining the results obtained by use of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout, there is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, a tow bar assembly generally designated as reference numeral 10 for coupling a pair of sulky shafts 12a and 12b of a sulky 14 to the opposite sides of a horse 16. The horse 16 carries a saddle 18 in the form of a wide belt which encircles the horse l6 and is snugly held in place by a strap 20 and a pair of buckles 21. A flexible pad 22 is wider than the saddle l8, and is located on the horses back, beneath the saddle 18.

The tow bar assembly includes an inverted'U-shaped bar structure having two generally L-shaped bars 24 and 26 which are similar in shape. The bar 24 has a plurality of holes 28 extending along an upper flap 29 of the bar 24, see FIG. 54, and a lateral, vertical side 30 bent perepndicular to the side 29 and offset by a slanted integral top section 32. The side 30 is formed with a slot 34 which receives a threaded stud 36 of a shaft clamp block 38. A hole 40 in the block receives the shaft 12a and is secured by a bolt 42 and a nut 41. The stud 36 is held by a cap nut 44. By this arrangement, the shaft 12a, can be adjustably positioned at one side of the horse. The other bar 26, has a similar arrangement of parts indicated by the same numbers 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 41 and 42 and the clamp block 38 permits the shaft 12b to be adjustably secured on the other side of the horse.

On the other side of the horse, secured to the center of the saddle 18, is a stationary plate 46, secured by a plurality of rivets 48. The plate 46 has a central hole 50 which receives an axially vertical stationary stud 52 having a head 53 which is secured by a plurality of rivets 55 to the pad 22. The stud 52 has an upper thread end 54 which is engaged by a wingnut 56. A check hood 57 is secured on and extends upwardly of plate 46 in front of the stud 52.

FIG. 5 discloses a tow bar assembly 10 which comprises a single inverted U-shaped bar structure 25 with the shaft clamp block 38 at each of the depending sides 30. The tow bar assembly 10 may be used when the central plane of symmetry S of the sulky is always aligned with the central plane H of the horse.

In FIGS. 1-4 the horizontal side 29 of the bar 26 is disposed in aligned overlapping position on the side 29 of the bar 24 to define the bight of the U-shaped bar structure. The holes 28 on the bars 24 and 26 are disposed in registration. The stud 52 extends through the registering holes 2811 located at the central plane of symmetry H of the horse and is held by the wingnut 56. A bolt 58 extends through the registering holes 28b of the bars 24 and 26 located laterally of one side of the center line H. A further bolt 60 extends through registering holes 280, of the bars 24 and 26 located laterally of the other side of the central plane H. A pair of wingnuts 62 and 64 engage the bolts 58 and 60 respectively. By this arrangement, shaft 12a is located closer to the left side of the horse 16 looking forwardly from a drivers seat 6 (FIG. 2) while shaft 12!) is further away. The central plane of symmetry S of the sulky 14 is displaced laterally of the central plane H of the horse a distance D which can be on the average about 3 inches, but it can be more or less depending on the lateral width of the horse. A smaller horse can have more lateral spacing because there will be more available lateral space between the shafts.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show the tow bar assembly 10 in place with horse and sulky coupled via the tow bar assembly 10. The advantage secured in racing can be best understood by referring to FIG. 9. There is shown a trotting track T which may be a half mile in total length and having an inside guard rail 70. Ends E and E of the track are semicircular Suppose a horse and sulky setup are coupled together using the tow bar assembly 10 of .FIG. 5, then the central planes of the horse and sulky are aligned and they travel a path P around the track. Suppose now the horse and sulky have their respective central planes displaced by the adjustable tow bar assembly 10. The horse in this setup will travel path P. The difference in distance traveled by the horse in both paths at end E will be: P P 11' (R R), where R and R are the'radii of travel paths P and P at end E. There is no difference between paths P and P in straight sections ST and ST. If R R D 3 inches, then P P 311' inches 9.4 inches. Similarly at end E the travel distance will be 9.4 inches. So that in traversing the track once, a horse equipped with the present adjustable tow bar will travel 18.8 inches less in path P than in path P. In a one mile race, traversing the track T twice, the total distance traveled will be 37.6 inches shorter in path P. In both one half mile and one mile races, where the finishing horses are all close to the finishing line, these savings of 18.8 or 37.6 inches can cause winning of the race by a horse and sulky equipped with the present adjustable tow bar invention.

FIGS. -8 show a modification of the invention in FIGS. I-4 in which a tow bar assembly B is similar to assembly 10 of FIGS. 1-4 and corresponding parts are identically numbered. The bolts 58, 60 and the wingnuts 62, 64 are replaced by a pair of threaded locating pins 58 and 60' which are threaded into holes 28" of a lower bar 24. Upper ends of the shank 58", 60 fit into the holes 28 in the upper bar 26. The wingnut 56 on threaded end 54 of the stud 52 is replaced by a nut 56 attached with a washer 75 which bears on the upper bar 26. A recess 80 is formed in the saddle 18 (FIG. 8) to receive a head 82 ofa bushing 84. The head 53 of the stud 52 is secured by a plurality of rivets 55 to the pad 22 and extends axially through the bushing 84 which acts like a sleeve bearing to permit slight anx gular rotation of the bars 24 and 26, with respect to the plate 46. which is secured by a plurality of rivets 48 to the saddle 18. Assembly 108 permits lateral relative displacement of the horse and sulky shafts in the same 5 manner as illustrated in FIGS. I-3.

The tow bar assemblies described can be easily and inexpensively installed. They are negligible in 'weight and may be made of aluminum or magnesium or of strong tought plastic for minimizing weight.

It should be understood that the foregoing relates to onlya limited number of embodiments of the-invention, which have been by way of example only, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

l. A tow bar assembly for coupling a sulky having a pair of laterally spaced shafts to opposite sides of a horse comprising:

a belt like saddle means engageable around said horse and overlaying the back of said horse;

a flexible pad underlying said saddle means on the back of said horse;

an inverted U-shaped bar structure having a bight and depending sides; and

an attachment means for pivotally and adjustably securing the bight of said bar structure at a selected pointto said saddle means with said bight extending transversely of said horse so that said shafts may be secured to said depending sides of said bar structure said attachment means comprising:

- a stationarythreaded stud secured to said pad and extending through said saddle means at the central plane of symmetry of said horse; and v a nut engagedon said stud.

2. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 1, whereby said bar structure comprises two generally L-shaped bars having overlapping aligned horizontal sides formed with a plurality of registrable holes whereby the central plane of symmetry of said horse may be displaced from the central plane of symmetry of said sulky thereby locating said horse closer to one of said shafts than the other.

3. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 2, further comprising:

a support plate secured to said saddle means and underlying said overlapped sides of said L-shaped bars, said plate having a central hole for receiving said stud, so that said U-shaped bar structure is pivotable on said plate.

4. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said attachment means further comprises bolts insertable through other registering holes in said bars in spaced positions at opposite sides of the center plane of symmetry of said horse, and securing means engaged on said bolts.

5. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said attachment means comprises a pair of pins insertable through certain registering laterally spaced holes in said bars laterally spaced apart at opposite sides of the central plane of symmetry of said horse.

6. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 2, further comprising a bushing secured to said plate, said stud extending rotatably through said bushing to facilitate angular rotational movements of said U-shaped bar structure to said saddle means.

tivethreaded stud extending through a respective one of said slots. and each secured by a nut, so that said shafts are adjustably secured to said depending sides of said U-shaped bar structure. 

1. A tow bar assembly for coupling a sulky having a pair of laterally spaced shafts to opposite sides of a horse comprising: a belt like saddle means engageable around said horse and overlaying the back of said horse; a flexible pad underlying said saddle means on the back of said horse; an inverted U-shaped bar structure having a bight and depending sides; and an attachment means for pivotally and adjustably securing the bight of said bar structure at a selected point to said saddle means with said bight extending transversely of said horse so that said shafts may be secured to said depending sides of said bar structure said attachment means comprising: a stationary threaded stud secured to said pad and extending through said saddle means at the central plane of symmetry of said horse; and a nut engaged on said stud.
 2. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 1, whereby said bar structure comprises two generally L-shaped bars having overlapping aligned horizontal sides formed with a plurality of registrable holes whereby the central plane of symmetry of said horse may be displaced from the central plane of symmetry of said sulky thereby locating said horse closer to one of said shafts than the other.
 3. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 2, further comprising: a support plate secured to said saddle means and underlying said overlapped sides of said L-shaped bars, said plate having a central hole for receiving said stud, so that said U-shaped bar structure is pivotable on said plate.
 4. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said attachment means further comprises bolts insertable through other registering holes in said bars in spaced positions at opposite sides of the center plane of symmetry of said horse, and securing means engaged on said bolts.
 5. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said attachment means comprises a pair of pins insertable through certain registering laterally spaced holes in said bars laterally spaced apart at opposite sides of the central plane of symmetry of said horse.
 6. A tow bar assembly as defined in claim 2, further comprising a bushing secured to said plate, said stud extending rotatably through said bushing to facilitate angular rotational movements of said U-shaped bar structure to said saddle means.
 7. An adjustable tow bar assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said depending sides of said U-shaped bar structure has a longitudinal slot; and a pair of clamp blocks each adapted to engage one of said shafts respectively, each of said blocks having a respective threaded stud extending through a respective one of said slots, and each secured by a nut, so that said shafts are adjustably secured to said depending sides of said U-shaped bar structure. 